Monday, August 30, 2010

Glenn Beck remarked during the 8-28 "Restoring Honor" rally that he believed this was the largest attended private event in Washington DC history. My wife and I attended both the 9-12 March on Washington in 2009 and this past weekend's 8-28 rally. From my subjective analysis, I believe it can be shown that the attendance at the Glenn Beck rally was roughly equivalent to the 9-12 march, which was estimated to be approximately 1.5 million people. It is possible that the 8-28 rally had the potential to be even bigger. All DC hotels were sold out during both of these events. On neither of these dates were there any other large events taking place which would have significantly competed for hotel space (other than Al Sharpton's gathering of 3,000 people on 8-28, who I am assuming were mostly locals). Parking in DC is very limited, and many of the roads in the city were closed off for these events. Therefore, car and bus access was maxed out. Most of the attendees were transported by car or bus to Metro stations outside of the city. At these stations, access is limited to the maximum possible occupancy of each railcar. Thousands of people stood for hours in interminably long lines trying to buy Metro tickets.We drove to the Vienna, VA station at the very end of the Metro Orange line. Arriving early in the morning, we got into line outside the station while it was still only a few hundred feet long. Behind us, it grew further than the eye could see. Four lines of this size fed into the station entrances. Underneath the walkway, Interstate 66 was a virtual parking lot stretching over the horizon, a sea of vehicles attempting to get to the overflowing Metro parking lot. After about two hours, we made it to the ticket machines. There were five of them for the whole station. The one I attempted to use had run out of regular tickets, so I had to purchase day-passes. Once finally inside the Metrorail, people filled every square inch of space in each car. With human flesh packed so tightly together, it was a good thing we were all there to "restore honor".

Unfortunately for all of the people who had waited in line for hours at the subsequent stations, there was no room in any of the passing trains. I observed one brief struggle break out during the trip. As the doors opened at one of the stops, a man was violently pushed into our car by the crowd of frustrated commuters behind him trying to get in. Since there was nowhere to go, he shouted in pain as he was crushed between two solid walls of humanity. The point of this is that DC is only capable of accommodating a finite number of people within any single day, and that maximum was attained on 8-28. My estimate is that at least one-third of the people waiting in the Metro station lines and stranded on the highways could not have made it there by 1:30 pm when the event ended. If the maximum number of attendees possible at a DC rally is about 1.5 million, then there were that many at the Beck rally and perhaps another half million who tried to attend but failed. My estimate might be flawed, but there is no way to accurately determine how many people may have attended the event if they had better access to the city.

Beck: Possible 650,000 Attended - Newsmax - One day after the massive “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington D.C., both organizer Glenn Beck and pundits from all over the map debated the size of the crowd. Beck himself estimated the crowd numbering between 300,000 and 650,000 during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Others ranged downward but generally reported that the crowded at least topped 100,000 people. Beck said the event, meant to honor the U.S. military, was not supposed to be political, and for the most part, politics were left out of the conversation. "The message I was trying to send was be your highest self and stand in the burning bush, stand in the fire, because that's the only thing that's going to save us," he said. "I've come to the place where I believe there's no way to solve these problems, these issues ... unless we solve it through God, unless we solve it through being our highest self, and that's a pretty tall order."Read more..........

Glenn Beck Crowd: Not So White as Advertised - World Net Daily - Hundreds of thousands of Americans – of many creeds and colors – made what ended up being a pilgrimage of sorts to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally. Catholics, other Christians and Jews spoke to WND on site, many celebrating the themes of faith and reliance on God proclaimed from the platform. As WND reported, Beck proclaimed the purpose of the rally, saying, "It has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with God." Beck, the Fox News TV host and a professed Mormon, urged his fellow Americans to live according to the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity. He asked everyone to enter into 40 days of deep prayer, an obvious plea to imitate Jesus Christ's 40 days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness. Read more.......

Tell the Truth and Turn to God, Glenn Beck Tells Hundreds of Thousands at His Restoring Honor Rally - CNS News - Americans may disagree on their politics, and that’s okay, Glenn Beck told a crowd numbering in the hundreds of thousands on Saturday. But for the sake of the nation, Americans must agree on their values and principles. Change for the better begins in each one of us, Beck said, as he urged Americans to turn to God – just as the Founding Fathers did. Your country needs you, he said. Under warm, sunny skies, Americans from across the country trooped to the National Mall for Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the crowd rolled back to the World War II Memorial, and beyond that to the sloping lawn of the Washington Monument. Trying to reach the Mall from all sides, some people were too far away to clearly hear what was being said. Read more.......

VIDEO: John 3:16 - "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD" - Focus on the Family

The Bible on One Page - Click on photo to open

About This Website

Welcome to Welborn Freedom Watch. The Opening picture of this Web Site was taken at the 'Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor' rally. I am very concerned over the direction our President and Congress are leading us. As a conservative Republican and a Christian, my focus will be from these perspectives. My goal with this site is to gather news articles, important information of interest, direct news feeds and links to other sites, all in one place to make all of this more accessible for your convenience.

Our Founding Fathers

Patrick Henry, Revolutionary Leader and Orator - The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed.

Abraham Lincoln - 16th President - In regard for this Great Book, I have this to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book .

Recommended Books

Saving Freedom - Jim Demint

A Praying Life - Paul Miller

The American Patriot's Bible - Dr. Richard G. Lee

Common Sense - Glenn Beck

Liberty and Tyranny - Mark R. Levin

The 5,000 Year Leap-W. Cleon Skousen

Special Scripture

Psalm 119:45 - I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts.